How to Layer Your Own Hair

Want a new look this season but too lazy to go out and head to the salon? Try doing it for yourself! Below are the how tos on how to cut your own hair layers.

Getting Your Hair Ready

1. Check your hair in the mirror. Since you’re cutting it yourself, give extra time in checking yourself in the mirror and decide to place the layers.
You could also try taking a picture of your face, print it out, and draw where you would like to put the layers.
Some people like bolder looks having their layers with huge differences in length of their layers while others like natural-looking layers.
Here are the following things to consider :

The texture of your hair. Putting layers on your hair adds body to it, especially when some of it has shorter lengths. If you have curly or full-bodied hair, you should go with longer layers which does not differ much in length. On the other hand, you could choose to have shorter layers if you have straight hair.
The shape of your face. Know what layer length looks good for the shape of your face. Shorter layers puts accent on heart-shaped and ovular faces while longer layers give gorgeous looks with square or round faces.
Your own preferences. If you’re trying to copy your favorite celebrity’s or popular hair style, find out a way on how it would work on your hair. How your hair will be parted, where would the layers fall and in the end, how would you style it.

2. Use a good pair of scissors. A sharp, professional-grade pair of barber scissors – this is the most important tool to make sure that your hair turns out great. Using either kitchen scissors or craft scissors will just leave you unsatisfying results. Buy your scissors from a drugstore or beauty store.

3. Set your very own home barbershop. It’s best to work in a well-lit place with a mirror and access to a sink, most probably the bathroom. Have a towel to put on shoulders, hair clips to hold the sections of your hair, a comb and ofcourse, your scissors.

4. Wash your hair. To get started, using a wide-toothed comb out the tangles of your hair while washing it.Towel dry your hair until damp instead of dripping.

Cutting Your Hair Layer by Layer

1. Place your hair into sections. Make sure the layers are on the same length on either side of your head. It means the layers should be the same length. For example, the layers behind your ears should be of the same length and so on. You should divide your hair into sections by layer to do this.

Have a “top box section”; it is the section of hair between two layers. Create two parts using a comb; one on the left side and one on the right.

Divide your top box into two; first is from the crown of your head to your forehead the second one is from the crown of your head to the nape of your neck. To secure the sections in place, use your hair clips.

Make left and right front sections. The two front sections should start at your temples and ends at the top of your ears. Comb both of the front sections and secure them up with the clips.

Leave your back sections loose.You’re not cutting the longest part ofyour hair, this will serve as a guide which to measure the other layers so leave it down.

2. Trim your front top box. Take the clips of the front top box sections. Hold your hair straight between your forefinger and middle finger at a ninety-degree angle from your head. Keep your hair between your fingers and bring it down in front of your face. Slide your fingers down until you reach the level where you want the shortest layers to start. Start trimming the length of your hair sticking out from between of your fingers.

It’s normal to have the shortest layer trimmed just below the earlobe, or right at the jawline.

On the side of making your layers longer instead of shorter that you want it to be, it will shrink up a little when it dries. You can always trim more if you had to.
3. Cut the front right section. Take the clips of the front right sections. Hold your hair straight between your forefinger and middle finger at a ninety-degree angle from your head. Keep your hair between your fingers and bring it down to the side of your face. Slide your fingers down until you reach the level where you want the side layers to be cut. Use your scissors to trim your hair sticking out from of your fingers.

Rather than a horizontal line, trim at an angle for softer-looking layers.

4. Cut the front left section. Take the clips of the front left sections. Hold your hair straight between your forefinger and middle finger at a ninety-degree angle from your head. Keep your hair between your fingers and bring it down to the side of your face. Slide your fingers down until you reach the level where you want the side layers to be cut. Use your scissors to trim your hair sticking out from of your fingers.

5. Cut the back sections. You could also add layers to sides and back of your hair. To check your work, use the second mirror frequently. Lift small sections of your hair and cut them. Avoid cutting the back layers short because the back sections should be the longest. They need be just as long or longer than the other layers.

6. Comb your hair and examine the layers. When you’ve finished cutting, make sure to check all of your layers for you to be sure that they fall where you want them to. Carefully trim the hair if you see uneven layers to make them look even.

Using A Shortcut

1. At the top of your head, put your hair at a ponytail. It’s easier to just turn your head upside down and use a comb to help you gather your hair. Secure your ponytail at the top of your head using an elastic band.

It should be on the top of your scalp, not on the crown of your head. This will ensure that the layers will be positioned correctly.

Just make sure that it isn’t cocked to one side because this could result to uneven layers.

2. Slide the elastic down to the length of your hair where you want it to be cut. Stop sliding the elastic band several inches from the tip of your hair if you want short layers. Slide it down until about one inch from the end of the ponytail if you want long layers.

3. Using your scissors, cut the sections of your hair which sticks out of the ponytail.
It will take more time to get through all of the layers if you have thick hair, so make sure you cut them in the exact same place.

The layers will looked jagged if you cut at an angle, so make sure to hold the scissors horizontally and cut straight.

4. Remove the elastic from your hair and examine your layers. You will have even and natural looking layers around your head. If you want to alter your look, you can trim individual pieces.

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